Women's Volleyball | 10/20/2021 10:50:00 PM
ALBANY, NY – The Hawks went into the The Kahl Campus Center on the campus of Russell Sage College Wednesday night with one thing on their mind: the program's first Empire 8 Tournament appearance since the Empire 8 went to a condensed four-team format in 2003. Hartwick left Albany with exactly that, defeating the Gators 3-1 (25-19, 18-25, 25-23, 25-11) and picking up their first postseason appearance since they made both the ECAC tournament and NYSWCAA tournament in 2007.
Hartwick is now 15-2 overall (and have long since clinched the best season in program history by winning percentage) and 5-1 in the Empire 8, while Russell Sage dropped to 5-18 on the year and 1-5 in conference play.
The two teams found themselves tied at four in the first set before the Hawks jumped out to a 12-8 lead from a Braelyn Hornick (Candor, NY/Candor) kill. They kept on flying as they took the game to 17-13 with back to back kills from Staecia Silofau (Kapolei, HI/Maryknoll). It was a kill from Myla Dobson (Burnt Hills, NY/Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake) that got the score to 24-18, and the Hawks finished the first playing the gritty defense they have shown all year, forcing an attack error by the Gators winning to win 25-19.
The Hawks went into set two looking to set up their ninth sweep of the year, but the Gators chomped back. The home side jumped out to an early lead going up 10-4. Head coach Jim Clar called a timeout and tried to settle his team down. Senior Toria Betelak (North Syracuse, NY/Liverpool) had a kill followed by an ace then shared the love to her counterpart Dobson for a kill of her own to get the score to 15-13 in favor of the Gators. With Colette Maloney (Williston Park, NY/Mineola) behind the service line, the Hawks would make a further push get the match to 18-17 Gators and force a timeout. Russell Sage came out of the timeout composed and forced the Hawks to commit errors all over the court that quickly advanced the set to 24-17 Gators. After a Kaileigh Brandow (Manorville, NY/Eastport South Manor) kill via an assist by Kayley Ericson (Franklin, CT/Norwich Free Academy) the score was 24-18, and the Hawks hoped to make a late set push, but after a service error from the Hawks the Gators took set two 25-18 win.
Just like the first set, set three started with both teams tied at 4. With a lot of marbles on the table, both teams would not back down from the adversity. The set would continue with back-and-forth play, but it was the Gators who went ahead first, going up 6-4 on the Hawks. Hartwick followed up the Gators two point lead with one of their own, going up 9-7. Russell Sage continued to answer back to the Hawks pressure, and got the set to 17-15 in their favor. It was a kill by Maloney that got it to 22-20 Hawks, and seemed as if it would put the Gators away, but a three point run from the Gators Celia Gagnon put her side ahead, 23-22. Coach Clar said pregame that his team had to learn how to play under pressure now, so come playoff time they would be ready, and they learned quickly. The Hawks battled off the Gators run and won set three, 25-23. An ace from senior Ericson closed it out and it seemed as if it was the final push the Hawks needed in the match.
The energy from Ericson's set three service ace continued right into set four as the ball remained in Ericson's hands. With Ericson behind the service line to start, the Hawks opened up the set leading 5-0. They would go on a four point run to get the set to 12-4 in their favor and it seemed as if they were flying well above the Gators. It was not until another run from the Hawks that got the game to 16-6 in their favor that forced the Gators to call a timeout. Out of the Russell Sage timeout, 'Wick went on a 9-4 run to close the set 25-11 and match 3-1. It was Brandow from the left side of the net who let fly a vicious kill to eliminate the Gators on their senior night and berth the Hawks into the Empire 8 playoffs.
The Hawks, now winners of seven in a row, were led by Dobson, who had a career-high18 kills and five blocks. Betelak tallied 11 kills of her own, and Maloney recorded 21 digs. Hornick and Ericson split setting duties, with the former picking up 26 assists to the latter's 20.
Hartwick returns home on Friday, October 22 at 6 p.m. against the Soaring Eagles of Elmira. They will celebrate their six seniors before the match.